Historical equipment of the Iranian Army

Cases exist where Iran was supplied with equipment even before it was made standard in the countries that developed it (for example the US F-14 Tomcat, or the British Chieftain Tank).

The Iran–Iraq War, and post-revolutionary sanctions at the time had a dramatic effect on Iran's inventory of Western equipment.

Despite severe concerns regarding quality and effective design, the war eventually forced Iran to turn towards the Soviet Union and China amongst others to meet its short term military requirements.

Nevertheless, the experience of using advanced and high quality Western equipment was not lost on any of the branches of the Iranian armed forces.

After the Iran–Iraq War and a relatively moderate stance by Iran during the 1990s, Russia began to sell the Iranian regime military goods (SCUD launchers, T-55, T-62 & T-72 tanks.)